Shojo Fashion Manga Art School: How to Draw Cool Looks and Characters - Softcover

Flores, Irene

Softcover

ISBN 10: 160061180X ISBN 13: 9781600611803

Publisher: IMPACT Books, 2009

Synopsis

The Number One Fashion Workshop for Shojo Manga!

From 'dos to shoes, how you dress and style your characters says a lot about who they are, before they even utter a word. Whether your story calls for a flashy drama queen or a mousy bookworm, this guide contains everything you need to know to create fabulous shojo manga characters with personality.

   • The Figure. Follow these simple basics to draw the guys and girls of various body types, in any pose.
   • The Face. Learn how to draw an endless variety of features. Get the feeling across with facial expressions from a subtle quirk of the mouth to all-out crocodile tears. Then add the perfect hairstyle—the icing on the cake.
   • The Look. "Shop" from an illustrated gallery of clothing and accessories for every season and occasion, from formal dresses to bunny slippers, with demonstrations and tips on designing your own original fashions.
   • The Setting. Portray your character's world with demonstrations on how to create classic hangouts like classrooms, coffee shops and bedrooms.


Complete with 14 start-to-finish demonstrations for drawing a range of character types, from the girl next door to the punk guy, from single characters to couples and groups, this book will help you bring a world of unique and memorable characters to life...and have lots of fun doing it!

About this title

About the Author

Irene Flores was born in 1982 in the Philippines and currently lives and works in California's central coast. She started her career in 2004, co-creating and illustrating Mark of the Succubus for TOKYOPOP Inc. 

Irene has illustrated "Weekly Weird News" for the Princess Ai: Rumors from the Other Side anthology and "Right to Left, Back to Front" for WildStorm's Welcome to Tranquility. She is currently illustrating projects for WildStorm Productions.

Reviews

Grade 6 Up—Flores explains how to create characters with a manga flair. Through black-and-white and color artwork, she provides the basics of figure drawing, specifically teenaged characters. Step-by-step instruction includes heads, facial features, and bodies. Posing and settings are briefly covered. The illustrations incorporate blue pencils for the initial sketches, then finishing with detailed pencils and inks. The premise is that an understanding of human anatomy is key to good character design, and essential for drawing attire. Half of the book is devoted to drawing garments, starting with folds, then pieces of clothing. The underlying body, sketched in blue or red, shows how it affects the shape of what the person is wearing. Characters sport trendy, but not otherworldly, outfits. Absent are the magical girls and costumed ninjas. The author's approach is that with a few variations on the standard figure, you can make your character design "mangalike." Chris Hart'sManga Mania Romance: Drawing Shojo Girls and Bishie Boys (Sixth & Spring, 2008) and Colleen Doran's Girl to Grrrl Manga: How to Draw the Hottest Shoujo Manga (Impact, 2007) provide wider and deeper coverage of art techniques, special effects, and other conventions distinctive to Japanese manga.—June Shimonishi, Torrance Public Library, CA
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Edition details

• Publisher: IMPACT Books
• Publication date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 160061180X
• ISBN 13: 9781600611803
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 144